THE JAMAICA Teachers' Association (JTA) is negotiating an $800 million loan from a major financial institution to assist with the upgrading of the island's 17,000 teachers who do not have a first degree.
This is in addition to the $500 million revolving loan that the Government has committed to provide for the teachers.
Ruel Reid, president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association told The Gleaner yesterday that teachers will be able to access the loan by January. He said the JTA and the financial institution are still working out the rate of interest at which the teachers will repay the loan.
The upgrading of teachers is a recommendation which was made by the task force report on education. But speaking at a Kiwanis luncheon recently, Dr. Claude Packer, principal of the Mico College, said it would take a long time to upgrade the 17,000 teachers.
And Mr. Reid noted that the education system does not have the capacity to train more than 1,000 teachers each year because there are only a few local universities, while the overseas programmes are very expensive.
He said the teachers' colleges were working assiduously to acquire degree granting status, but that will take some time.
Mr. Reid said the loan will be disbursed to teachers in good academic standing in their programme of study each semester and will be paid directly to the education institution.
